Politics & Policy

CAFOs
June 17, 2024

Canceled Documentary Screening Raises Questions about Farm Bureau Ties to North Carolina’s Largest Health Insurer

Blue Cross of North Carolina counts the Farm Bureau, a champion of industrial hog farms, as a major customer

Inside the Farm Bill
June 3, 2024

Six Takeaways from the GOP’s Farm Bill Draft

Austerity budgets, SNAP cuts, fuzzy math, nostalgia for “Bipartisanship” and more

Health Care
May 30, 2024

What a Leading Epidemiologist Says You Should Know About the Bird Flu

Michael Osterholm breaks down what the bird flu is, why it’s spreading to dairy cows and the pandemic lessons we failed to learn

Farm Bill
May 26, 2024

House Ag Committee Passes Farm Bill Draft Protecting Key Republican Priorities

After hours of contentious debate over nutrition, conservation, the definition of “cuts” and the meaning of “bipartisanship,” the Republican-led committee passed a bill that crossed several of Democrats’ “red lines”

Inside the Farm Bill
May 16, 2024

Partisan Clash or ‘Grand Bargain’? Dueling Proposals Set the Stage for the Farm Bill’s Uncertain Future

Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress appeal for support for their vision of the farm bill, yet a deep impasse looms ahead of an expected May 23 markup in the House

Politics
May 13, 2024

Organizing Rural and Small Town America for Affordable Housing and Racial Justice

Affordable housing is among the top issues for rural Americans. For this organizer, it’s also the starting point for building strong communities.

Politics
May 2, 2024

Zach Shrewsbury Says His Senate Campaign in West Virginia is Bigger Than Party Politics: ‘This Is About the Class Struggle’

The grassroots organizer and former Marine vies for a seat in the U.S. Senate against a Manchin-backed candidate and an ex-coal excecutive in the state’s Democratic primary in May

Inside the Farm Bill
April 15, 2024

Conservation Programs Are Popular with Farmers. Why Does the G.O.P. Want to Defund Them?

Republicans are targeting Inflation Reduction Act climate funding that mostly benefits red state farmers

Politics
April 10, 2024

Electrifying Democracy in Rural America

For this energy policy expert, rural electric co-ops empower communities and strengthen democracy.

Health Care
April 8, 2024

Practicing an ‘Insurgent Politics of Care’ in Rural America

How rural residents and immigrant communities are adapting to the broken rural health landscape on Maryland’s Eastern Shore

Health Care
April 7, 2024

What Rural Healthcare Looks Like in ‘The Land that Time Forgot’

How immigrant workers navigate rural healthcare in Maryland’s Eastern Shore

Agriculture
April 4, 2024

Democrats Are Missing a Key Moment to Back Farmworkers

Despite a lack of evidence, Republicans in the House claim that high farmworker wages are causing farmers to go broke. Democrats should stand up for farmworkers and set the record straight.

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